{"id":4032,"date":"2020-11-03T07:33:52","date_gmt":"2020-11-03T13:33:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=4032"},"modified":"2020-11-03T07:37:56","modified_gmt":"2020-11-03T13:37:56","slug":"cronkite-news-voters-getting-more-serious-about-the-environment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2020\/11\/03\/cronkite-news-voters-getting-more-serious-about-the-environment\/","title":{"rendered":"Cronkite News: Voters getting more serious about the environment"},"content":{"rendered":"\"havasupaitribeuscapitol\"
Citizens of the Havasupai Tribe rallied at the U.S. Capitol on June 4, 2019, in support of legislation to protect their homelands from uranium development in Arizona. Photo by Indianz.Com (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n
Arizona voters want more federal action on environment, ASU poll says<\/div>\r\n
Tuesday, November 3, 2020<\/div>\r\n
By Danya Gainor<\/div>\r\n
Cronkite News<\/DIV>\r\n
cronkitenews.azpbs.org<\/A><\/DIV>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nPHOENIX \u2013 Twenty-four hours after Tuesday\u2019s election, the U.S. officially will exit the \r\nParis Agreement<\/a>, an effort by nearly 200 countries to reduce the threat of man-made climate change. This comes as Arizona voters are expressing a growing interest in climate change and environmental policy.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\r\nA new survey of voters indicates Arizonans are becoming more concerned about climate change, which could influence their choices between two presidential candidates with starkly different strategies for tackling environmental issues.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\r\nThe \r\nMorrison Institute for Public Policy<\/a>\r\nat Arizona State University and the \r\nNina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust<\/a>\r\nsurveyed 800 Arizona voters in 2017 and followed up in January 2020 to gauge Arizonans\u2019 evolving beliefs about environmental protection.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\r\n\u201cArizona voters are as interested or more interested in and concerned about the environment in 2020 as they were in 2017,\u201d the \r\nsurvey<\/a>\r\nsaid. \u201cThis includes attitudes toward and opinions about wildlife, land use, rivers and streams, global warming, preservation of water, air and water quality, and government spending on and attention to the environment.\u201d\r\n

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\n\t\t\n\t\t\tNina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust (@pulliamtrust) on X\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t
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Arizonans rank protecting the environment in their top three priorities, behind education and health care. Read this @azcentral article to learn what else a recent @MorrisonASU poll revealed about Arizona voters’ opinions about the environment. https:\/\/t.co\/fAU9GnRrSd<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t

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<\/P>\r\nIn 2020, the survey found, 87% of Arizona voters believe the environmental issues facing the state are either \u201cvery serious\u201d or \u201cserious,\u201d up from 81% in 2017.

<\/p>\r\n\r\nStephen Kilar<\/a>\r\nof the Morrison Institute said the survey demonstrated a striking shift in climate change beliefs.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\u201cNearly 70% of respondents said that the state government has to do more to combat climate change,\u201d Kilar said. \u201cOf that 70%, 45% said that they strongly agree that the state government needs to do more. That is up from 33% just three years ago.

<\/p>\r\n\u201cMore and more people are wanting action.\u201d

<\/p>\r\nBut why now?

<\/p>\r\n\r\n\u201cThe climate crisis is here and it is affecting all of us right now,\u201d said Daniela Campos, \r\nClimate Power 2020<\/a>\u2019s spokesperson in Arizona. \u201cThis summer, Phoenix hit another \r\nhistorical record of extreme heat<\/a>, wildfires are still burning in the West, and the Atlantic is dealing with a supercharged hurricane season.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\u201cOur country needs bold, transformative, science-based climate action. This is why climate is a critical issue for a majority of voters in Arizona in 2020.\u201d

<\/p>\r\nHistorically, the topic of climate change hasn\u2019t weighed heavily on the minds of Arizona voters until now, the new survey suggests. Although more white and Hispanic voters have prioritized environmental issues higher in the last few years, some climate activists say marginalized communities that experience the disproportionate effects of climate change have conducted much of the activism for decades.

<\/p>\r\n\r\n\u201cNot since the Apollo project, I don\u2019t think we\u2019ve ever seen science front and center in a national campaign before,\u201d said Shaughnessy Naughton, president of \r\n314 Action<\/a>, a grassroots network that advocates for the election of scientists to public office. \u201cIt is because of the pandemic that we are going through, but it has exposed a lot of things that need to be fixed in our society and, you know, from racial injustice to health inequities.\u201d\r\n

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The phone survey of 8\ufe0f\u20e30\ufe0f\u20e30\ufe0f\u20e3 registered voters was commissioned by the @pulliamtrust<\/a>. Researchers at @MorrisonASU<\/a> designed the questionnaire and analyzed the results.

The poll was aimed at gauging public opinion about environmental issues:https:\/\/t.co\/UzY5DoY4mb<\/a><\/p>— azcentral environment (@azcenvironment) September 20, 2020<\/a><\/blockquote>